Danase Detailing Supply Blog

Am I the only one getting sick of people complaining about gas prices?  We don’t have it THAT bad in the states compared to other countries.  Heck, it was over $5 per gallon in the Cayman islands when we where there and it was about $3 in the states at the exact same time.  I get sick of hearing people complain about the gas prices while driving aimlessly around in there 12 mile per gallon trucks and SUV’s.  When the gas prices really started to soar I choose to do something about it rather than complain….We traded in our F-150 for a Fusion for starters.  I bought a new bicycle and started riding my 70 miles per gallon Kawasaki Ninja 250 motorcycle more often.  These people that complain drive me nuts because they are usually the ones at fault.  The ones that complain about gas for their huge trucks that never have more than one person in it, the ones that drive their gas hogs on a 15 minute commute, the ones that could or SHOULD be riding a bicycle or walking and so on and so on.  Buy a  motorcycle or scooter if the walk or bicycle ride is too far!  You can get a Honda Rukus for under $2K!  Imagine how much you’d save in gas!  The ones that REALLY get me are the boaters who complain about prices of gas on the water.  Like having a boat is a necessity and they can not live without it.  If gas prices are upsetting you that much sell the boat you idiot!

That is my complaint on people complaining.

DETROIT (AP) — General Motors Corp. said Thursday that the shaky real estate market convinced the automaker that it was a good time to buy its previously leased headquarters in downtown Detroit’s towering Renaissance Center for $626 million.

GM revealed the May 1 purchase in a filing Thursday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. GM says it paid $626 million cash for the headquarters and $200 million cash for two office properties in nearby Pontiac.

GM moved its headquarters from Midtown Detroit to the Renaissance Center in 1996 and sank $500 million into improvements to the complex, originally built by Ford Motor Co.’s real estate arm in the 1970s.

At the time, GM decided to finance the project with loans and lease the building from the lenders, GM spokeswoman Renee Rashid-Menem said Thursday night. She said the lease expired May 1, and GM decided against renewing it.

“We opted to purchase it outright because of the condition of the real estate market,” Rashid-Menem said.

Rashid-Menem said such leases from banks are “a pretty typical arrangement when someone buys a large piece of property.”

As real estate conditions change, GM would consider reselling the building and entering another lease agreement, she said.

The Renaissance Center opened along the Detroit River in 1977. The $350 million project was spearheaded by Henry Ford II in an attempt to revive downtown Detroit following the 1967 riots. A recent makeover is part of a $1 billion private-public investment in the city’s riverfront.

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